Q&A Sunday: Bad Feng Shui Plants

Guest User February 14, 2021

Hi Anjie! Are there any bad feng shui plants I should stay away from?

I get this question often, so I thought it was a good one to answer for Q&A Sunday. First, I want you to think about your own voice, and the way that you label things. If you’re labeling certain things as “bad,” you’re probably taking a fear-based approach. This isn’t how I approach feng shui, and in my opinion there are no bad feng shui plants. There are plants that may not be ideal for you or your space, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad.

I do have something to say about feng shui plants that get a bad rap. Often, spiky plants like cactus or snake plant are labeled as bad feng shui plants because they’re sharp, and there’s something to this. If you decide to place a plant in your relationship corner because you want to invite in a partner, and you choose a really sharp, prickly cactus, that might tell you something about the kind of energy you’re putting out into the world when it comes to relationships.

This isn’t a bad thing, however - it can actually be helpful, because it’s giving you some insight into what you need to work on, and what you can explore with curiosity in this area of your life. The fact that you were inclined to put a prickly cactus in this area can give you something to think about when it comes to why you’re having trouble attracting a partner. When you think about a sharp, prickly cactus, what comes to mind? We usually want to keep our distance from them, and they’re very protective, which could be the reason someone is drawn to putting a cactus in the relationship corner.

Alternatively, there are situations where it may be appropriate to put a protective plant in the relationship corner. For instance, maybe you’ve recently gone through some trauma, or you’re working on healing yourself. Sometimes you’re focused on taking care of yourself rather than looking for a partner, so a spiky, protective plant might be just what you need.

Another thing people ask me about is whether they need to get rid of a cactus or prickly plant that they already have and love. I want you to think about that. If it’s something you love and feel connected to, then don’t get rid of it. It’s a living thing, so see if you can find the most appropriate place for it in your home, or work with a feng shui consultant to figure this out. In general, though, you don’t need to get rid of things that you love just because you read somewhere that it’s not good feng shui.

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". If you have personal questions, we encourage you to check out Practical Feng Shui or hire one of Anjie's Grads.

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

5 Feng Shui Tips to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Guest User February 10, 2021

Photo by Karolina Kołodziejczak on Unsplash

Anjie Cho was featured on Saatva

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival, is quickly approaching on February 12.

The holiday, which lasts for 15 days, marks the beginning of spring on the lunar calendar and is one of the most important celebrations in Asian culture, especially Chinese culture, says Anjie Cho, feng shui and meditation teacher in New York City, feng shui expert at The Spruce, and co-host of the Holistic Spaces podcast. “It’s very similar to how we look at our regular New Year on January 1,” she says.

To get ready for Chinese New Year, many people sweep, clean, and decorate their homes before the holiday begins. The goal is to create the optimal feng shui to enjoy good luck, health, and prosperity all year long.

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice. It involves arranging the pieces in your home in such a way to create harmony between your energy and the energy within your surroundings.

Below, Cho explains how you can use feng shui to usher in the Lunar New Year.

…read full article

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Q&A Sunday: Broken Dishes in the Kitchen

Guest User January 31, 2021

I have a lot of broken dishes in my kitchen. They’re still usable, but some have big chips in them. Is that bad?

In feng shui, your kitchen represents your nourishment, how well you do in the world, and your resources, so it’s an important place to pay attention to.

It’s also one of the most popular areas for people to work on in their homes. I do home renovations, and people spend a lot of time and money improving and updating their kitchens. We also spend a lot of time and energy cooking for ourselves and our families in the kitchen, and that translates to health and wellbeing. How we nourish ourselves also reflects on how well we can do in the world.

While I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily “bad” to have broken items in your home, it is certainly something to take note of. If you do have broken or chipped dishes or other items, that can represent some kind of broken energy, or difficulty and challenges. I invite you to repair or replace those items if you can, and I also understand that it’s not always possible to do this. You have to do the best you can with what you have, and because I’m not working with you directly, you have to be the judge and use your own intelligence and intuition to determine what is right for you.

In general, though, if you have a kitchen full of broken things that are no longer serving you, what does that say about how you care for your health and your inner environment? As I’ve said before, your inner environment and your outer environment reflect each other. Are there any broken dishes you could let go of in your kitchen?

If there’s an item in your kitchen that you absolutely love and cherish, find a way to repair it. One good example is the Japanese practice of Kintsugi, which is a way to use precious metal like gold to repair broken pottery. This makes it into something precious, rather than something damaged or fragile. Again, think about what your kitchen represents: we want to have a lot of strength and support when it comes to our health, rather than things being broken or in disrepair.

I invite you to take a look at what you can let go of in your kitchen in terms of broken or damaged items, take the time to repair any items that you really love, and begin to open up more opportunities for health, support, resources, and strength.

by Anjie Cho